BIOGRAPHY

From now to back then…

Winter 2010 – The riffs of the indie bands since the turn of the millennium were still in the air, but
they were being slowly replaced by the melodic sounds of the new folk movement, led by
Mumford & Sons, was about to take the helm in guitar music. That was the time when Severin
Specht and Benjamin Nolle decided to make music together. Two long-time friends who not only
shared the same hometown and football club, but also a love of acoustic guitar music. The last
they discovered on a tour with Benjamin’s former band „The Rising Rocket“, on which Severin
gained his first stage experience as a guest musician with his future band colleague. This resulted
in joint songs and the two musicians quickly realized that not only their voices, their guitar playing
and their ideas harmonized excellently – but also that this combination resulted in songs that
sounded like what the two artists wanted to do in the future. And since they could only do it
together, the two friends became a band.
A band name did not have to be found. Rather, it was created almost by itself. From long nightly
conversations about music and the dream of being able to make a living from it, a common vision
grew. The vision was so vivid and tangible to both of them that it almost felt like a place and they
gave it the name Adelaide. A common goal to which the two now set off together – and thus
became its children.
That’s why this winter 2010 it was: Hello world, may we introduce: The Kids of Adelaide

The beginning of the route to Adelaide was quickly found: It was the Stuttgart pedestrian zones
that had the honor of being the first stage ever to present the Kids of Adelaide and the passers-by
there became the band’s first audience. Playing for them, it became clear that the songs worked –
because they were enthusiastically received.
This was quickly followed by the first paid performances on stages that were not built of
cobblestones and asphalt. And with the number of performances, the number of songs with the
copyright Nolle & Specht also grew. This resulted in an album that was proof that the Kids of
Adelaide really deserved the name tag „indie“ in their genre „indie folk“. Because the record with
the title „Songs For You And Me“ was recorded in the room of Severin’s brother Sebastian
Specht which had been converted into a studio, and then was produced by Sebastian. Even the
pressing of the record was organized by the band itself – more self-direction is not possible.
The first edition was sold out after only a few months. Proof that the guys on the streets and the
stages had already earned a considerable number of fans. But the listeners included not only
lovers of grandiose guitar music, but also the owners of the Stuttgart indie label Green Elephant
Records – and they gave the two musicians their first record deal and produced the EP Kids of
Adelaide at Bauer Studios with singer and songwriter Tiemo Hauer as producer.
Tiemo Hauer also took the duo straightaway as support band on his own tour and so the Kids of
Adelaide played in the year following their foundation, among other venues, in the sold-out LKA
Longhorn in Stuttgart. So, where just a few months ago a handful of passers-by with shopping
bags had stopped briefly in front of two street musicians, now there were over 1000 fans in a hall
– and it was raging.
The band had finally arrived in professionalism.
And Adelaide was getting closer and closer.

The road to Adelaide is also the path of rock ’n’ roll and it winds its traditional way from stage to
stage, only interrupted by stays in studios for album production. Support shows for Tiemo Hauer,
Max Prosa and Dry The River not only took the Kids of Adelaide across Germany – but also
increased the band’s popularity from show to show. As a result, the names of those whom they
supported were also getting bigger and bigger: Jamie Cullum, Donavon Frankenreiter, Mark Owen
from Take That, Kiefer Sutherland and even legends like Led Zeppelin’s front man Robert Plant
chose the two boys from Stuttgart as their opening act.
The albums that were created during these years show what the intense coexistence of life and
work can release in a band: ideas merge, harmonies are perfected and a duo develops such a
monumental power that the songs sound as if a band with many more musicians were at work.
And so the records „Home“ (Green Elephant Records), „Byrth“ and „Black Hat & Feather“ are
audible milestones on the band’s road to Adelaide. The release of these albums also made it
possible for them to undertake successful headline-making tours in their own name, playing in
front of thousands of fans in clubs in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the Czech
Republic – as well as an appearance at the Champions League final in Wales.
However, the Kids of Adelaide are artists with deep roots and that’s why they needed a home that
suited them – despite a life „on the road“. They created it for themselves in the old farmhouse of
Benjamin’s grandmother. There they moved in together with Sebastian and thus built up an
artists’ community with their own studio (the Bodega Studio) and plenty of space for ideas, music
– and their Adelaide.

The touring years have turned the Kids of Adelaide into a grown-up, perfect band that has such
an unmistakable style that they could also compose a jazz piece and you would still recognize
them immediately.
But the duo was still on their way to Adelaide, and to walk a path means not standing still. That’s
why they decided to record the album „Into The Less“ in a new studio. After the last two albums
had been created in the Bodega Studio in their artists’ community with Sebastian as producer, the
Tone Temple Studios of Jens Peter Abele were visited for the new album. „Into The Less“ was
then released by Snowy Mountain Records and was accompanied by a Germany-wide tour.
The fact that the artistic productivity of the two musicians even after years of working together
was still seemingly inexhaustible, was proven by the „Parted“ EP, which was released shortly after
the „Into The Less“ album in the same year.
After almost a decade as musicians, the Kids of Adelaide have not only become a unique and
unmistakable band – they have also become something like ambassadors for their own lifestyle, a
passionate, independent path, and for their Adelaide. This is proven by invitations to
performances from such venerable institutions as the Goethe-Institute in France.

As for all musicians, the pandemic became for the Kids of Adelaide more than just a stumbling
block on their way to Adelaide. No concerts, hardly any income and, worst of all, no live contact
with their fans. But during this time it became clear what a big advantage the band has: The spirit
of the Kids of Adelaide springs from the inspiration that the two musicians can ignite in their own
heads and in which they fuel each other. This leads to focusing on the essential core of the band.
In 2020, to begin with, the duo released two singles „Seasons“ and „Safe and Sound“ – in order
to demonstrate to their fans with this musical sign of life that this band goes on and on, and the
lights in Adelaide are still burning. Even during a pandemic.
This year proved once again that the Adelaide Way of Life is a very special one because while in
times of social isolation everyone was waiting to finally be able to escape it again, these two
musicians withdrew even further. Much further. They went to a small hut in the middle of the forest
to reflect on what makes the Kids of Adelaide special: making music together, dreaming,
philosophizing. In seclusion, even the first soundtracks for song demos were recorded, the vibe of
which corresponded so much to what the band wanted to achieve that parts of it were included in
the later album. The album was recorded once again in the Bodega Studio with Sebastian. This is
how „The Cabin Tapes“ was created.
In 2021, a further step was taken which proves that there is no standstill in Adelaide. For ten years
now the band has been on the road as a duo, always accompanied by the third band member
and producer, Sebastian. But in order to widen their opportunities on stage and to create a
brilliant comeback for all those who missed live music during the pandemic as much as the kids
themselves have done, the band decided to enter the stages from now on with two more
musicians.
The crew of the ship that sets sail for Adelaide has grown once again.

The Cabin Tapes Live TourAs it turned out, the year 2022 steered the band back into calmer waters after the turbulent pandemic years. „The Cabin Tapes“ not only quickly found their way into the hearts of KoA fans, but also into numerous high-reach Spotify playlists. In this way, the community of those who accompanied the band on their road continued to grow. And since it was possible to organize live concerts again, in 2022 the Kids of Adelaide at long last set out once more on a big headliner tour – of course with the fresh „The Cabin Tapes“ songs in their luggage. The new songs were carried by the 4-piece live power and well-known Adelaide classics were performed with new energy and unknown facets, both of which inspired enthusiasm in new and long-time fans alike. How much the direct contact with the audience had been missing was by now at the latest felt by everyone. All doubts washed away. So it can be said about 2022: the sails are set again.